Method and apparatus for an imaging system

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides apparatus for an imaging system comprising a multitude of imaging elements upon a substrate. In some embodiments the substrate may be approximately round with a radius of approximately one inch. Various methods relating to using and producing an imaging system are discussed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to the U.S. Provisional Applicationbearing the Ser. No. 61/926,471, filed Jan. 13, 2014 and entitled METHODAND APPARATUS FOR AN IMAGING SYSTEM. The contents are relied upon andhereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods and associated apparatus andmethods which relate to processing tools used to create imaged layers onsubstrates. Massively parallel implements of electron beam or chemicalspecies beam imaging elements may be combined to form a full substrateprocessing system. In some embodiments the imaging systems may be usedin conjunction with cleanspace fabricators. The present invention mayalso relate to methods and apparatus to capitalize on the advantages ofcleanspace fabricators for methods or development, design, research andmanufacturing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A known approach to advanced technology fabrication of materials such assemi-conductor substrates is to assemble a manufacturing facility as a“cleanroom.” In such cleanrooms, processing tools are arranged toprovide aisle space for human operators or automation equipment.Exemplary cleanroom design is described in: “Cleanroom Design, SecondEdition,” edited by W. Whyte, published by John Wiley & Sons, 1999, ISBN0-471-94204-9, (herein after referred to as “the Whyte text” and thecontent of which is included for reference in its entirety).

Cleanroom design has evolved over time to include locating processingstations within clean hoods. Vertical unidirectional airflow can bedirected through a raised floor, with separate cores for the tools andaisles. It is also known to have specialized mini-environments whichsurround only a processing tool for added space cleanliness. Anotherknown approach includes the “ballroom” approach, wherein tools,operators and automation all reside in the same cleanroom.

Evolutionary improvements have enabled higher yields and the productionof devices with smaller geometries. However, known cleanroom design hasdisadvantages and limitations.

For example, as the size of tools has increased and the dimensions ofcleanrooms have increased, the volume of cleanspace that is controlledhas concomitantly increased. As a result, the cost of building thecleanspace, and the cost of maintaining the cleanliness of suchcleanspace, has increased considerably.

Tool installation in a cleanroom can be difficult. The initial “fit up”of a “fab” with tools, when the floor space is relatively empty, can berelatively straightforward. However, as tools are put in place and afabricator begins to process substrates, it can become increasinglydifficult and disruptive of job flow, to either place new tools orremove old ones. Likewise it has been difficult to remove a sub-assemblyor component that makes up a fabricator tool in order to performmaintenance or replace such a subassembly or component of the fabricatortool. It would be desirable therefore to reduce installationdifficulties attendant to dense tool placement while still maintainingsuch density, since denser tool placement otherwise affords substantialeconomic advantages relating to cleanroom construction and maintenance.

There are many types of manufacturing flows and varied types ofsubstrates that may be operated effectively in the mentioned novelcleanspace environments. It would be desirable to define standardmethodology of design and use of standard componentry strategies thatwould be useful for manufacturing flows of various different types;especially where such flows are currently operated in non-cleanroomenvironments.

In many types of substrate processing environments, a common andimportant processing step may include “lithography” processing whereimages are imparted to films of sensitive material upon the substrate.In the state of the art optical lithography is used to impart imagesthrough lithography masks. In other embodiments, electron beams are usedto impart images in a controllable fashion. There may utility forcreating systems where imaging systems may be formed with large parallelcombinations of imaging elements that process a full substratesimultaneously. Such imaging elements that process a full substratesimultaneously may also be consistent with the desire to reduceinstallation difficulties for processing tools as previously mentioned.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention provides apparatus and methods toprovide parallel implementations of electron beam or chemical speciesbeam imaging elements to form a full substrate processing system. Insome embodiments these systems may be used within a cleanspacefabricator facility. Cleanspace fabrication facilities have been definedin various patent specifications by the inventive entity, and theteachings and definition of these published specification may form abasis for understanding the utility of the inventive art herein withincleanspace environments.

The present invention also provides novel methods of utilizing thesedesigns for processing fabs which rearrange the clean room into acleanspace and thereby allow processing tools to reside in both verticaland horizontal dimensions relative to each other and in some embodimentswith their tool bodies outside of, or on the periphery of, a clean spaceof the fabricator. In such a design, the tool bodies can be removed andreplaced with much greater ease than is the standard case. The designalso anticipates the automated transfer of substrates inside a cleanspace from a tool port of one tool to another. The substrates can resideinside specialized carriers designed to carry ones substrate at a time.Further design enhancements can entail the use of automated equipment tocarry and support the tool body movement into and out of the fabenvironment. In this invention, numerous methods of using some or all ofthese innovations in designing, operating or otherwise interacting withsuch fabricator environments are described. The present invention cantherefore include methods and apparatus for situating processing toolsin a vertical dimension and control software modules for making suchtools functional both within the cleanspace entity itself and also innetworks of such fabricators wherein at least one of the processingtools incorporates an imaging system comprised of a multitude of imagingelements.

In some embodiments of the invention, methods are provided which utilizeat least one fabricator where the cleanspace is vertically deployed.Within said fabricator there will be at least one and typically moretool chassis and toolPods. A toolPod will typically be attached to atool chassis directly or indirectly thorough one or more other piece orpieces of equipment which attach to the toolPod. At least the onefabricator will perform a process in one of the toolPods and typicallywill perform a process flow which will be performed in at least onetoolPod. The toolPod may have an attached or integral Toolport that isuseful for the transport of substrates from one tool or toolPod toanother tool or toolPod. In these embodiments, a unique aspect of theembodiments is that the first toolPod may be removed from the fabricatoror factory for a maintenance activity or repair and then replaced withanother toolPod. The use of the tool chassis together with a toolPod mayresult in a replacement that takes less than a day to perform. In somecases the replacement may take less than an hour. There may be numerousreasons for the replacement. It may be to repair the first toolPod or itmay be replace the toolPod with another toolPod where the tool within isof a different or newer design type. These methods may be additionallyuseful to product a product when the substrate produced by the processflow may next be processed with additional steps including those whichdice or cut or segment the substrate into subsections which may becalled chips. The chips may then be assembled into packages to form aproduct. The assembly and packaging steps may also comprise a processflow and may include sophisticated techniques including threedimensional assembly, through silicon vias, substrate stacking tomention a few; and these steps may be performed in a cleanspacefabricator or alternatively in a cleanroom type fabricator. The assemblyand packaging operations may include steps for thinning substrates aswell as steps to form conductive connections between conductive contactsor contacts and other conductive surfaces. Alternatively, the endproduct of the assembly and packaging operations which may be anassembled product may be used in method where a conductive connection isformed between a conductive contact of the package and anotherconductive surface of another component or entity. Any of the majortypes of processing may utilize an imaging apparatus comprised of amultitude of imaging elements.

In some embodiments, the methods of producing products in the mentionedcleanspace fabricator may be useful to produce small amounts of aproduct. An imaging system comprised of a multitude of individualimaging elements may define a lithography option for a low volumefabricator that is both economical and cost effective in that expensessuch as the production of lithography masks may not be required in someembodiments. In some cases the fabricator environment may be useful increating and producing imaging system components as well.

There may be combinations of toolPods and tool Chassis entities whichreside in environments that resemble either cleanspace or cleanroomenvironments which represent novel methods based on the inventive artherein. These collections may also create methods for the use of imagingsystems comprise of a multitude of individual imaging elements. Forexample, a vertically deployed cleanspace may exist in an environmentwhere there is only one vertical level in the fabricator or where thereare no toolPods located in a vertical orientation where at least aportion of a toolPod lies above another in a vertical direction.Alternatively, whether in only one vertical level or in multiple levelsof a cleanspace fabricator type whether vertically deployed or not theremay be novel embodiments of the inventive art herein that involvecollections of toolPods that are functional to produce on a portion of aprocess flow or even a portion of a process but utilize the methodsdescribed for fabricators.

A component of an imaging system may be formed by the combination ofmultiple imaging elements into a system. The combination may define anarray of elements that is regular or non-regular. The imaging elementsmay each have the ability of emitting light, or ions or chemical speciesfrom their structures unto a neighboring substrate which may have amaterial or layer of material in a proximate location to the imagingelements such that it may receive the emitted light, ions or chemicalspecies onto its surface or bulk.

An imaging system may be formed by the combination of a component of animaging system as just discussed and a fixture to hold a substrate.There may also be alignment features on the substrate or on the fixturethat may hold the substrate that may be operant to the function of theimaging system. There may also be a controller which may provide controlsignals to other components of the imaging system. The controller mayalso receive signals from other components of the imaging system. Thecontroller may process a software algorithm or a program. In theprocessing by the controller, the controller may access data filesstored within the controller or communicated to the controller bycommunication means.

There may be methods for forming an imaging system or imaging systemcomponent. An imaging system element or component may be formedindividually by a process. It may then be tested in an individualfashion for metrology aspects desired for imaging processing. A subsetof those elements or components that have metrology results that arewithin a specification range may be selected. The selected components orelements may place proximate to a receiving substrate and arranged in adesigned pattern across the receiving substrate. In some embodiments,the receiving substrate may be round in form and have a radiusapproximately one inch in diameter. The receiving substrate may have hadelectrical connection features defined upon its surface to mate up withthe components or elements that are placed thereupon. A process step toelectrical connect an element to the substrate may be performed.Thereafter, the combined imaging elements may form an imaging systemcomponent that may be tested. The imaging system component may be placedproximate to a test substrate which has a layer or material that may besensitive to electrons, ions or chemical species that may be emitted bythe imaging system component. The imaging system component may next berastered across the test surface to impart the image to the testsubstrate. The test substrate may be further processed such that ametrology process may be performed upon it to calibrate the imagingsystem component. The calibration data may be fed to a controller andthe imaging system component may be included into a processing systemwhich may be referred to as an imaging system. Thereafter, the imagingsystem may be used to process an image for a production substrate.

In another embodiment, the imaging elements may be formed and processedsimultaneously. Techniques used for semiconductor and MEMS productionmay be used to create the array of imaging features on a substrate. Afinished substrate with attached imaging elements may next be tested inconcert with a test structure. The test structure in some embodimentsmay be a test wafer which may have been coated with a sensitive layerthat may be sensitive to processing by the imaging elements. Theresulting image structures on the test wafer may next be measure by ametrology apparatus. Comparison of the image test structure to a modelmay be performed to determine calibration and correction data values forthe imaging system to use. Optionally a second test wafer may beprocessed with a repeat of the processing steps for the first testsubstrate but with correct values based on metrology. Next, the imagingsystem may be used to process an image for a production substrate.

In another embodiment, an imaging system may be formed by combining animaging system component comprising a multiplicity of individual imagingelements. In some embodiments, the imaging system component may beformed in a round form factor common for semiconductor processing aswafers. The imaging system component may be included with othercomponents including a wafer holding and alignment system and acontroller to control the operation of the various components, collectdata and run programs to construct the data into model corrections forthe imaging system component. The imaging system components may beincluded into a processing tool that may be configured in a toolPodstructure which itself may be capable of interfacing with a tool chassisstructure. The toolPod comprising the imaging system may be optionallyplaced within a cleanspace fabrication environment. In the sameenvironment a second toolPod may be placed and may be located at a levelthat may be vertically above the first tool location. A first substratemay be placed within the cleanspace fabricator. The substrate may bemoved to the first toolPod with the imaging system and an imagingprocess may be performed upon the substrate. The substrate may next bemoved to the second toolPod, and a second process may be performed bythe tool in the second toolPod. In some embodiments this method may beused to process semiconductor or integrated circuit substrates, MEMS,optoelectronic, biomedical engineering substrates or the like.

In some embodiments a method for producing an imaging system may be touse a cleanspace fabricator to produce an imaging system according tothe inventive art herein. In a first step a substrate may be placedwithin a cleanspace fabricator. The substrate may be moved to aprocessing tool which in some embodiments may be located within atoolPod. Next a processing step may be performed within the processingtool. The processing step may be part of a full processing flow designedto produce the array of imaging elements that form an imaging systemcomponent. After the full processing the imaging elements may be testedby their use upon a test substrate. After the test substrate with imagedmaterial is further processed structure that may be measured may beformed. Next a metrology process may be performed to determinecalibration data and offsets or adjustments. Thereafter the producedimaging system may be used to process a substrate to image a productionpattern onto the substrate with an imaging sensitive layer.

One general aspect includes an imaging apparatus including: a firstapparatus including a first substrate with a multitude of imagingelements arrayed thereupon where the imaging elements are capable ofemitting an imaging signal from their structure to a material sensitiveto their emissions on a surface in a vicinity of the first apparatus.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Theimaging apparatus including the imaging apparatus and additionallyincluding: a support component for a second substrate to be processed bythe imaging apparatus; an alignment feature and alignment apparatus tomeasure the alignment feature; and a processor operant to collect datafrom imaging apparatus components, process the data and control imagingapparatus components based on the data. The imaging apparatus where themultitude of imaging elements emit electrons. The imaging apparatuswhere the multitude of imaging elements emit photons. The imagingapparatus where the multitude of imaging elements emit molecules. Theimaging apparatus where there are more than 100, 1,000, 10,000, 100,000or 1,000,000 imaging elements upon a substrate which may be planar. Theimaging apparatus where the planar substrate is approximately round witha radius approximately one inch in dimension. The method additionallyincluding: testing the imaging system to form test structures, measuringthe test structures, and calculating correction values utilizing resultof the measuring. The method where the imaging system includes more than10,000 individual imaging elements. The method where the imaging systemis approximately round in form with a radius of approximately 1 inch.The method additionally including the step of: including the imagingelements into a toolPod. The method additionally including steps of:placing the toolPod upon a chassis, where the chassis is part of acleanspace fabricator; placing a second substrate into the cleanspacefabricator; placing an imaging sensitive film upon the second substrate;and performing an imaging process upon the imaging sensitive film uponthe second substrate. The method where the imaging elements emitelectrons. The method where the imaging elements emit photons. Themethod where the imaging elements emit molecules. The method where thereare more than 10,000 imaging elements upon a first substrate. The methodwhere the first substrate is approximately round with a radiusapproximately one inch in dimension.

One general aspect includes a method of forming an imaging systemincluding: forming an individual imaging system element, testing theindividual imaging system element, selecting the individual imagingsystem element based on compliance to desired specifications, forming areceiving substrate with electrical interconnect features thereon,placing selected individual imaging system elements upon the receivingsubstrate, and processing the placed selected individual imagingelements to electrically connect them upon the receiving substrate.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Themethod additionally including: testing the imaging system to form teststructures, measuring the test structures, and calculating correctionvalues utilizing result of the measuring. The method where the imagingsystem includes more than 10,000 individual imaging elements. The methodwhere the imaging system is approximately round in form with a radius ofapproximately 1 inch. The method additionally including the step of:including the imaging elements into a toolPod. The method additionallyincluding steps of: placing the toolPod upon a chassis, where thechassis is part of a cleanspace fabricator; placing a second substrateinto the cleanspace fabricator; placing an imaging sensitive film uponthe second substrate; and performing an imaging process upon the imagingsensitive film upon the second substrate. The method where the imagingelements emit electrons. The method where the imaging elements emitphotons. The method where the imaging elements emit molecules. Themethod where there are more than 10,000 imaging elements upon a firstsubstrate. The method where the first substrate is approximately roundwith a radius approximately one inch in dimension.

One general aspect includes a method for forming an imaging systemincluding steps of: placing a second substrate within a cleanspacefabricator, moving the second substrate within the cleanspace fabricatorto a processing tool within a first toolPod, processing the secondsubstrate to form imaging elements upon the substrate, and moving thesecond substrate with imaging elements thereon out of the cleanspace.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Themethod where the imaging elements emit electrons. The method where theimaging elements emit photons. The method where the imaging elementsemit molecules. The method where there are more than 10,000 imagingelements upon a first substrate. The method where the first substrate isapproximately round with a radius approximately one inch in dimension.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, that are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate several embodiments of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention:

FIG. 1—An illustration of a small tool cleanspace fabricator in asectional type representation.

FIG. 2—An illustration of a full substrate imaging apparatus withhighlighted regions illustrated at higher scale to depict a collectionof individual imaging elements.

FIGS. 3A, B—Illustrations of an embodiment of an individual imagingelement.

FIGS. 4A, B—Illustrations of a simplified array of imaging elements todepict how a collection of imaging elements may be formed in exemplaryembodiments.

FIG. 5—A depiction of an embodiment of an exemplary positioning element.

FIG. 6—A depiction of an embodiment of a redundant imaging element.

FIGS. 7A, B—Exemplary depictions of an imaging apparatus depictedpartially offset from an exemplary location of operation in proximity toa substrate in a holding location with alignment features.

FIGS. 8A, B—Exemplary depictions of an array of imaging elements and aclose up view of an exemplary small sized imaging element.

FIGS. 9A, B—Exemplary depictions of an array of imaging elements and aclose up view of an exemplary small sized imaging element.

FIG. 10—A Flow chart depicting exemplary methods of production of animaging apparatus.

FIG. 11—A Flow chart depicting exemplary methods of production of animaging apparatus.

FIG. 12—A Flow chart depicting exemplary methods of utilization of animaging apparatus.

FIG. 13—A Flow chart depicting exemplary methods of production of animaging apparatus.

FIG. 14—An exemplary processor that may be useful for some embodimentsof imaging systems.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In patent disclosures by the same inventive entity, the innovation ofthe cleanspace fabricator has been described. In place of a cleanroom,fabricators of this type may be constructed with a cleanspace thatcontains the wafers, typically in containers, and the automation to movethe wafers and containers around between ports of tools. The cleanspacemay typically be much smaller than the space a typical cleanroom mayoccupy and may also be envisioned as being turned on its side. In someembodiments, the processing tools may be shrunk which changes theprocessing environment further.

Description of a Linear, Vertical Cleanspace Fabricator

There are a number of types of cleanspace fabricators that may bepossible with different orientations. For the purposes of illustration,one exemplary embodiment includes an implementation with a fab shapethat is planar with tools oriented in vertical orientations. Anexemplary representation of what the internal structure of these typesof fabs may look like is shown in a partial cross section representationin FIG. 1. Item 110 may represent the roof of such a fabricator wheresome of the roof has been removed to allow for a view into the internalstructure. Additionally, items 120 may represent the external walls ofthe facility which are also removed in part to allow a view intoexternal structure.

In the linear and vertical cleanspace fabricator of FIG. 1 there are anumber of aspects that may be observed in the representation. The“rotated and shrunken” cleanspace regions may be observed as cleanspaceregions 115. The occurrence of cleanspace regions 115 on the right sideof the figure is depicted with a portion of its length cut off to showits rough size in cross section. The cleanspaces lie adjacent to thetool pod locations. Depicted as item 160, the small cubical featuresrepresent tooling locations within the fabricator. These locations arelocated vertically and are adjacent to the cleanspace regions (115). Insome embodiments a portion of the tool, the tool port, may protrude intothe cleanspace region to interact with the automation that may reside inthis region.

Floor 150 may represent the fabricator floor or ground level. On theright side, portions of the fabricator support structure may be removedso that the section may be demonstrated. In between the tools and thecleanspace regions, the location of the floor 150 may represent theregion where access is made to place and replace tooling. In someembodiment, as in the one in FIG. 1, there may be two additional floorsthat are depicted as items 151 and 152. Other embodiments may have nowflooring levels and access to the tools is made either by elevator meansor by robotic automation that may be suspended from the ceiling of thefabricator or supported by the ground floor and allow for the automatedremoval, placement and replacement of tooling in the fabricator.

Description of a Chassis and a ToolPod or a Removable Tool Component

In other patent descriptions of this inventive entity (patentapplication Ser. No. 11/502,689 which is incorporated in its entiretyfor reference) description has been made of the nature of the toolPodinnovation and the toolPod's chassis innovation. These constructs, whichin some embodiments may be ideal for smaller tool form factors, allowfor the easy replacement and removal of the processing tools.Fundamentally, the toolPod may represent a portion or an entirety of aprocessing tool's body. In cases where it may represent a portion, theremay be multiple regions of a tool that individually may be removable. Ineither event, during a removal process the tool may be configured toallow for the disconnection of the toolPod from the fabricatorenvironment, both for aspects of handling of product substrates and forthe connection to utilities of a fabricator including gasses, chemicals,electrical interconnections and communication interconnections tomention a few. The toolPod represents a stand-alone entity that may beshipped from location to location for repair, manufacture, or otherpurposes.

Imaging Apparatus

An imaging apparatus of various types may be used in the variouscleanspace fabricator designs that have been described herein and inother referenced applications. Referring to FIG. 2 at item 200 anexemplary imaging apparatus in the exemplary form factor of a roundsubstrate is depicted. In some embodiments, the imaging apparatus may becomprised of a large number of similar elements. As shown in a magnifiedview 210, the individual elements may be arranged in a regular pattern220.

Referring to FIG. 3A at item 300 a close up of an imaging element may bedepicted in cross section and FIG. 3B at item 350 a plan view. In someembodiments, the imaging element may be as simple as a stylus or probeneedle. In the depiction of item 300 two stylus type elements may belocated in one imaging element location; however more complicatedelements may be preferred. In some embodiments, having two or morecomponents on a single imaging element may allow for redundancy andmethods of operating when one of the imaging elements 310 or 320 may beor may become defective for some reason. At 350, the exemplary imagingelement may be demonstrated with electrical connections andinterconnection elements. Item 360 may represent an electricalconnection for imaging element 310. Item 360 is also shown in crosssection and may have a thru-via 330 and an interconnection feature 340electrically connected to it. As well, other electrical connections 345may also be connected to the substrate upon which the imaging element isconfigured.

There may be many different manners to form imaging elements in an arrayon a substrate. For example, the techniques and equipment used toprocess semiconductor substrates to form metal connections andinterconnections such as vias may be used to form the features in theexemplary imaging elements depicted at 300. A stylus head may be formedby various chemical etching techniques, for example. Processes to formimaging apparatus may typically have degrees of error associated withtheir formation.

Referring to FIG. 4A, imaging array 410 may represent a simplifiedexemplary array of imaging elements. The array may depict nine suchimaging elements. The element of item 420 may have an error of locationin both of two orthogonal coordinates. The space depicted at 421 mayrepresent the vertical error of location from an idealized equivalentspacing of the nine array elements. The space at 422 may represent thehorizontal error of location.

The imaging element at item 430 may also have errors of location indifferent directions as depicted. In fact, all of the elements may haverandom amounts of error in location. In some embodiments, the errors maybe sufficiently small to be within a technological need for the imagingelement. In other embodiments, errors of production of an imaging arrayor variation of the calibration of the imaging system may besufficiently large to require correction. In FIG. 4B, item 450 adepiction of test structures imaged into a test substrate by the imagingarray 410 may be found. The aforementioned errors may be found as offsetin the location of the test structure depiction 460. A test structure ofthe type in 450 may be formed by the imaging array and thencharacterized by metrology techniques. These measurements may be used toallow the imaging array to be utilized in methods that correct forerrors in the characteristics of the array.

The imaging elements may be located in the grid pattern of imaging array410 and this pattern may have an imaging element that may have aresolution capability of a small distance. In some embodiments, thesmall distance may be as small as 1-10 nanometers. The spacing betweenimaging elements may be depicted at 470 and 480. The spacing may be suchto create a regular array, or in other embodiments may be designed in anon-regular fashion. This spacing may be a few hundred nanometers insome embodiments. In other embodiments the spacing could be a millimeteror more. In some embodiments, where the spacing is an exemplary 1micron, the imaging array must be translated numerous steps in both avertical and a horizontal direction. To cover the entire distance, thestep pattern of the entire grid array (as a whole) might be 1,000nanometers/10 nanometers or 100 steps in each direction as an example.By combining the calibration data the array may be controlled by acontroller to write arbitrary, but defined in data forms, image patternswhere the fundamental image element size may be 10 nanometers by 10nanometers in size. As mentioned, these values are provided in anexemplary manner and the use of an imaging array with multiple elementsmay function similarly for numerous embodiments. When various imagingelements have errors of location as discussed these imaging locationerrors may be corrected algorithmically.

In an exemplary embodiment, the imaging device may be characterized bymetrology and each individual imaging element characterizedindividually. In an example to describe a process related to this, astate of a detector may have errors that range from −10 nanometers to+20 nanometers in a first “X” coordinate direction and −20 to +20nanometers in a second orthogonal “Y” direction. If the step resolutionon the array is an exemplary 10 nanometers between each step that movesthe array then to image the full space, the array may be stepped 1 extratime for the negative X correction, 100 times for the normal area to beimaged, and then 2 additional times for the positive X Correction. Thisscanning procedure may repeat each time a Y direction is stepped. The Ysteps may be stepped an extra 2 times for the negative Y correction, 100times for the normal area to be imaged and then an extra 2 additionaltimes for the positive Y correction. Each image element may have its owncorrection and at the extremes of the stepping process it may beexpected that only a few of the elements would be active. This processis described for exemplary purposes and each imaging system may have adifferent set of calibration requirements. And in some cases, theelements of an imaging array of the type described herein may have adegree of dynamic characteristic and therefore repeated calibrations maybe required as the apparatus is used.

In a further exemplary vein, an array according to the descriptionsherein may comprise an apparatus that has a radial dimension of an inchor approximately 25 mm. The surface of such an imaging device maytherefore have approximately (3.14)*25*25 mm² or approximately 1960 mm².If the imaging arrays have an exemplary 10 micron distance betweenelements and a resolution size of 10 nanometers, then scanning mayinvolve a default 1000 steps in each of the X and Y directions plus anyrequired extra steps for calibration needs. As well if each imagingelement covers a 100 micron square area of a surface then eachmillimeter square would have 10,000 such elements therein. The entirearray may comprise 19,600,000 elements. Such an array might be able tobe fabricated using the tools of semiconductor manufacturing as anexample. That many elements may be expected to have numerous defectiveelements either initially or after use. There may be a utility tocreating redundancy at each element location for this purpose. As well,it may be useful to invoke processes that significantly over scan asingle imaging element dimension to allow for the ability of correctingfor element areas that are non-functional.

The calibration of array elements may also involve calibration of theintensity of the imaging signal of each element. In array designs whereeach element may have an alterable intensity of operation, thecalibration result may create a set of individual intensity settingsthat may be applied to each element. In other designs the dwell time ateach step cycle may be made to allow for the least intense element todeliver an appropriate imaging signal. In such a case, the individualelements may operate in a digital fashion toggled on and off on anindividual basis to deliver a required imaging signal.

Referring to FIG. 5, a probe type element 510 may also be useful tomeasure a dimension of an array of imaging elements from the surface ofthe substrate that the imaging array will image. In some embodiments, itmay be useful to calibrate and adjust the imaging array apparatus inseparation from a substrate to be imaged. In FIG. 5, a distance of aprobe tip 530 from a conductive surface of an element body 570 may bemeasured based on an electrical signal. In some embodiments, theelectrical signal may be based on electric emission from the probeneedle biased to a certain potential. The emission signal may becharacteristic of the separation of the needle from the conductivesurface. There may be numerous other techniques that may be useful incalibrating distances including electrical signals from tunnelingprocesses across a gap and AFM type force metrology based on theestablishment of a force signal as a needle interfaces with a surface.Other techniques relating to optical signals may also be used tocalibrate a height of the imaging array above a target substrate.

Continuing with an emission current embodiment, the probe tip 530 may bebiased by a variable voltage supply 550 which may be connected to theprobe tip 530 with an interconnect 540 and to a conductive surface of anelement body 570 with another electrical interconnect 560. Electricalcurrent may flow from the probe tip 530 across a calibrated gap to aconductive substrate and through a current measuring apparatus 580. Acombination of sensitive measurement devices may be used to keep aleveled distance relationship in place across a substrate of imagingelements. The element body 570 may be part of the substrate to be imagedor it may be part of a calibrated holding apparatus that holds thesubstrate in a calibrated fashion. In some embodiments, the thickness ofthe substrate may be a parameter that may need to be collected forcalibration. As may be apparent, in embodiments where the distance ofthe imaging elements to the imaged surface is critical it may beimportant to keep the imaging apparatus at a stable and uniformtemperature across its extents and over time periods.

Referring to FIG. 6, an example of a redundant imaging element 610 isdepicted. The element may configure two copies of an active element. Inother embodiments there may be more than two elements. In an exampleembodiment, the imaging elements may be formed upon a substrate that maybe controlled for its thickness. For example, the substrates 630 and 635may be comprised of a piezoelectric crystal. Piezoelectric crystals mayhave the property of expanding along a structural axis in response to anelectric field being applied across the crystal the electrical fieldsmay be applied in an exemplary fashion across interconnects 620 and 640.The active element 675 may be moved into an imaging position by theapplication of a potential voltage across 625 and 645; whereas theredundant element 670 may remain withdrawn and not activated. In otherembodiments, the redundant element may be made nonfunctional by othermeans than physical location, including in a non-limiting sense notbeing energized.

The active element 675 may be used to expose a chemically active layer680 and a substrate 690. In some embodiments the exposure may compriseelectron bombardment based on emission current emitted from the tipwhich may be biased through the electrical interconnect 650. In otherembodiments the tip may be used to create an electric field at thesurface that may be used to direct ionic species towards the chemicallyreactive layer. In still other embodiments, the narrowed tip maycomprise a photon directing material that may be coated with areflecting material such as a metallic film, except at the very tip. Thetip may direct light from a light source such as a solid state laser ora light emitting diode to the substrate. In some additional embodiments,a tip structure may represent a nanolaser device. In still furtherembodiments, the array may be configured with nanoscaled emitters. Insome cases, nanoscaled emitters may be tuned to emit at wavelengths thatare a fraction of the emitter dimensions or at sub-wavelengthconditions. There may be numerous other types of imaging elements.Because an imaging array may have so many individual elements, the powerrequirements for each element may be very small. In some embodiments,the amount of time required for exposure of the entire surface may bevery small.

Referring to FIG. 7A, an imaging system may be displayed. Item 710 mayrepresent an imaging component in the form of a round substrate. Theitems are demonstrated with some transparency in the illustration forillustration purposes only. The round substrate may be larger than asubstrate to be imaged, 740. The substrate to be imaged may sit inside apocket of a holding fixture 720. The holding fixture may have alignmentfeatures such as 730 incorporated into it. The alignment feature mayinclude a flat metallic surface 752 useful for calibrating the height ofthe imaging component. In addition, it may have alignment features 753that may be used in conjunction with scanning systems such as atomicforce microscopy probes or the like to calibration location in the planeof an idealized substrate surface. A magnified representation of thealignment structures 750 may be found at 751 in FIG. 7B.

Referring to FIGS. 8A and 8B a more complicated imaging element may beillustrated. At FIG. 8A item 810 an exemplary array of nine elementssuch as item 825 may be found. Each of the elements may have at leastone imaging elements 820. One of the imaging elements may bedemonstrated in a close-up representation 830 at FIG. 8B which also mayrepresent a cross sectional view. The exemplary imaging element may becapable of irradiating a target substrate with electrons or other ionicspecies. Item 840 may represent an exit slit that may be biased to adesired energy of an existing ion. The slit may insure that reasonablycolumnated ion beams emerge from the imaging element. Item 850, 860 and870 may represent focusing elements for the beam. The electrons maytraverse a column that may have these focusing elements deposited on itssidewalls. Item 880 may represent an initial imaging slit that may beused to accelerate ions or electrons from a filament or other source ofions or electrons 890. Numerous electrical connection points to theportions described are illustrated with circular connection points suchas 881 and 882. These are for illustration purposes and may representthat one or more control signals or electrical signals may be connectedto the various described portions.

An alternative type of micro imaging element may be found in referenceto FIGS. 9A and 9B. At 9A, item 910, another exemplary array of nineelements such as 925 with an associated image element 920 may be found.One of the elements represented in the close-up 930 of FIG. 9B may befound. This element may be useful for ejecting nanoscaled droplets ofchemical reactant to react with resist layers to form imaged layers.Item 990 may be an ejected chemical nanodroplet. Item 980 may be anelement to eject a nanodroplet 975. A piezoelectric element 950 may beuseful as such an ejection element or other such features as may befound in ink jet printing technology may be represented by 950. At 970droplets of chemical may be moved by microfluidic techniques through theuse of coated electrodes such as items 960 and 965. The electrodes mayreceive electrical control signals through interconnects fromcontrolling systems. An example of such an electrical connect isdepicted at 961.

Methods of Producing and Utilizing Imaging Systems

Referring to FIG. 10, a method for forming an exemplary array of imagingelements may be found. At step 1010 an imaging component may be formedby processing or otherwise obtained. At 1020 the individual imagingcomponents may be tested for their desired imaging properties. At 1030,imaging components that conform to a specification range may be selectedfrom the population of imaging components. At 1040, a carrying substrateconsistent to receive the numerous imaging elements may be formed andconfigured with electrical connection features such as solder bump. At1050 the individual imaging components may be placed in receivinglocations upon the carrying substrate. At 1060 the imaging component maybe processed to electrically connect the imaging components. Theapparatus that results at step 1060 may be further used or in otherembodiments it may be obtained by a user and at 1070 the imaging systemmay be used to image a test pattern on a substrate with an imagingsensitive layer thereupon. At 1080, a metrology process may be performedon the substrate with the test pattern and calibration adjustments maybe determined. At 1090 the imaging system may be used to image aproduction pattern on a substrate with an imaging sensitive layerthereupon.

Referring to FIG. 11, a method for a simultaneous processing of theimaging elements may be found. At step 1110 a substrate may be processedto form imaging elements upon the substrate such that the imagingelements are simultaneously formed across the substrate. At step 1120,the imaging components upon the substrate may be tested for theirdesired imaging properties. At step 1130, the imaging system may be usedto image a test pattern on a substrate with an imaging sensitive layerthereupon. At 1140, a metrology process may be performed on thesubstrate with the test pattern and calibration adjustments may bedetermined. At 1150 the imaging system may be used to image a productionpattern on a substrate with an imaging sensitive layer thereupon.

Referring to FIG. 12 a method for using an exemplary array of imagingelements may be found. At step, 1210 an array of imaging components maybe attached to an imaging system, which may optionally have a receivingrecess to hold substrates to be imaged as well as alignment featuresupon a portion of the component with said recess. At step 1220 theimaging system may be including into a processing tool that isconfigured within a toolPod structure and capable of interfacing with achassis structure to receive the toolPod. At step 1230, the toolPod mayoptionally be placed within a cleanspace fabrication environment. Atstep 1240 a second tool in a toolPod may be placed in a cleanspacefabrication environment wherein the second tool is located at a levelthat is vertically above the first tool location. At step 1250 a firstsubstrate may be placed within the first toolPod and an imaging processmay be performed by the imaging system. At step 1260, the substrate maybe moved from the first toolPod to the second toolPod. At 1270 a secondprocess may be performed by the tool in the second toolPod. There may benumerous types of substrates that may be processed according to themethod of FIG. 12 including in a non-limiting sense a semiconductorprocessing, a microelectronic processing, an electronic componentassembly processing, a MEMS processing and optoelectronic processing,

Referring to FIG. 13, a method for producing an imaging system may befound. At Step 1310, a substrate may be placed within a cleanspacefabricator. At step 1320 the substrate may be moved to a processingtool. In some embodiments, the processing tool may be located within atoolPod. At step 1330 a processing step may be performed within theprocessing tool as part of a processing flow to form an imaging system.At step 1340, the imaging components upon the substrate may be testedfor their desired imaging properties. At step 1350, the imaging systemmay be used to image a test pattern on a substrate with an imagingsensitive layer thereupon. At 1360, a metrology process may be performedon the substrate with the test pattern and calibration adjustments maybe determined. At 1370 the imaging system may be used to image aproduction pattern on a substrate with an imaging sensitive layerthereupon.

Control Systems

Referring now to FIG. 14, a controller 1400 is illustrated that may beused in some embodiments of an imaging system. The controller 1400includes a processor 1410, which may include one or more processorcomponents. The processor may be coupled to a communication device 1420.

The processor 1410 may also be in communication with a storage device1430. The storage device 1430 may comprise a number of appropriateinformation storage device types, including combinations of magneticstorage devices including hard disk drives, optical storage devices,and/or semiconductor memory devices such as Flash memory devices, RandomAccess Memory (RAM) devices and Read Only Memory (ROM) devices.

At 1430, the storage device 1430 may store a program 1440 which may beuseful for controlling the processor 1410. The processor 1410 performsinstructions of the program 1440 which may affect numerous algorithmicprocesses and thereby operates in accordance with imaging systemmanufacturing equipment. The storage device 1430 can also store imagingsystem related data, including in a non limiting sense imaging systemcalibration data and image data to be imaged with the imaging system.The data may be stored in one or more databases 1450, 1460. Thedatabases 1450, 1460 may include specific control logic for controllingthe imaging elements which may be organized in matrices, arrays or othercollections to form a portion of an imaging manufacturing system.

GLOSSARY OF SELECTED TERMS

Reference may have been made to different aspects of some preferredembodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. A Glossary of Selected Terms is included now atthe end of this Detailed Description.

-   -   Air receiving wall: a boundary wall of a cleanspace that        receives air flow from the cleanspace.    -   Air source wall: a boundary wall of a cleanspace that is a        source of clean airflow into the cleanspace.    -   Annular: The space defined by the bounding of an area between        two closed shapes one of which is internal to the other.    -   Automation: The techniques and equipment used to achieve        automatic operation, control or transportation.    -   Ballroom: A large open cleanroom space devoid in large part of        support beams and walls wherein tools, equipment, operators and        production materials reside.    -   Batches: A collection of multiple substrates to be handled or        processed together as an entity    -   Boundaries: A border or limit between two distinct spaces—in        most cases herein as between two regions with different air        particulate cleanliness levels.    -   Circular: A shape that is or nearly approximates a circle.    -   Clean: A state of being free from dirt, stain, or impurities—in        most cases herein referring to the state of low airborne levels        of particulate matter and gaseous forms of contamination.    -   Cleanspace (or equivalently Clean Space): A volume of air,        separated by boundaries from ambient air spaces, that is clean.    -   Cleanspace, Primary: A cleanspace whose function, perhaps among        other functions, is the transport of jobs between tools.    -   Cleanspace, Secondary: A cleanspace in which jobs are not        transported but which exists for other functions, for example as        where tool bodies may be located.    -   Cleanroom: A cleanspace where the boundaries are formed into the        typical aspects of a room, with walls, a ceiling and a floor.    -   Conductive Connection: a joining of two entities which are        capable of conducting electrical current with the resulting        characteristics of metallic or semiconductive or relatively low        resistivity materials.    -   Conductive Contact: a location on an electrical device or        package having the function of providing a Conductive Surface to        which a Conductive Connection may be made with another device,        wire or electrically conductive entity.    -   Conductive Surface: a surface region capable of forming a        conductive connection through which electrical current flow may        occur consistent with the nature of a conductive connection.    -   Core: A segmented region of a standard cleanroom that is        maintained at a different clean level. A typical use of a core        is for locating the processing tools.    -   Ducting: Enclosed passages or channels for conveying a        substance, especially a liquid or gas—typically herein for the        conveyance of air.    -   Envelope: An enclosing structure typically forming an outer        boundary of a cleanspace.    -   Fab (or fabricator): An entity made up of tools, facilities and        a cleanspace that is used to process substrates.    -   Fit up: The process of installing into a new clean room the        processing tools and automation it is designed to contain.    -   Flange: A protruding rim, edge, rib, or collar, used to        strengthen an object, hold it in place, or attach it to another        object. Typically as utilized herein, a Flange may also be used        to seal the region around the attachment.    -   Folding: A process of adding or changing curvature.    -   HEPA: An acronym standing for high-efficiency particulate air.        Used to define the type of filtration systems used to clean air.    -   Horizontal: A direction that is, or is close to being,        perpendicular to the direction of gravitational force.    -   Job: A collection of substrates or a single substrate that is        identified as a processing unit in a fab. This unit being        relevant to transportation from one processing tool to another.    -   Logistics: A name for the general steps involved in transporting        a job from one processing step to the next. Logistics can also        encompass defining the correct tooling to perform a processing        step and the scheduling of a processing step.    -   Maintenance Process: A series of steps that constitute the        repair or retrofit of a tool or a toolPod. The steps may include        aspects of disassembly, assembly, calibration, component        replacement or repair, component inter-alignment, or other such        actions which restore, improve or insure the continued operation        of a tool or a toolPod    -   Multifaced: A shape having multiple faces or edges.    -   Nonsegmented Space: A space enclosed within a continuous        external boundary, where any point on the external boundary can        be connected by a straight line to any other point on the        external boundary and such connecting line would not need to        cross the external boundary defining the space.    -   Perforated: Having holes or penetrations through a surface        region. Herein, said penetrations allowing air to flow through        the surface.    -   Peripheral: Of, or relating to, a periphery.    -   Periphery: With respect to a cleanspace, refers to a location        that is on or near a boundary wall of such cleanspace. A tool        located at the periphery of a primary cleanspace can have its        body at any one of the following three positions relative to a        boundary wall of the primary cleanspace: (i) all of the body can        be located on the side of the boundary wall that is outside the        primary cleanspace, (ii) the tool body can intersect the        boundary wall or (iii) all of the tool body can be located on        the side of the boundary wall that is inside the primary        cleanspace. For all three of these positions, the tool's port is        inside the primary cleanspace. For positions (i) or (iii), the        tool body is adjacent to, or near, the boundary wall, with        nearness being a term relative to the overall dimensions of the        primary cleanspace.    -   Planar: Having a shape approximating the characteristics of a        plane.    -   Plane: A surface containing all the straight lines that connect        any two points on it.    -   Polygonal: Having the shape of a closed figure bounded by three        or more line segments    -   Process: A series of operations performed in the making or        treatment of a product—herein primarily on the performing of        said operations on substrates.    -   Processing Chamber (or Chamber or Process Chamber): a region of        a tool where a substrate resides or is contained within when it        is receiving a process step or a portion of a process step that        acts upon the substrate. Other parts of a tool may perform        support, logistic or control functions to or on a processing        chamber.    -   Process Flow: The order and nature of combination of multiple        process steps that occur from one tool to at least a second        tool. There may be consolidations that occur in the definition        of the process steps that still constitute a process flow as for        example in a single tool performing its operation on a substrate        there may be numerous steps that occur on the substrate. In some        cases these numerous steps may be called process steps in other        cases the combination of all the steps in a single tool that        occur in one single ordered flow may be considered a single        process. In the second case, a flow that moves from a process in        a first tool to a process in a second tool may be a two step        process flow.    -   Production unit: An element of a process that is acted on by        processing tools to produce products. In some cleanspace        fabricators this may include carriers and/or substrates.    -   Robot: A machine or device that operates automatically or by        remote control, whose function is typically to perform the        operations that move a job between tools, or that handle        substrates within a tool.    -   Round: Any closed shape of continuous curvature.    -   Substrates: A body or base layer, forming a product, that        supports itself and the result of processes performed on it.    -   Tool: A manufacturing entity designed to perform a processing        step or multiple different processing steps. A tool can have the        capability of interfacing with automation for handling jobs of        substrates. A tool can also have single or multiple integrated        chambers or processing regions. A tool can interface to        facilities support as necessary and can incorporate the        necessary systems for controlling its processes.    -   Tool Body: That portion of a tool other than the portion forming        its port.    -   Tool Chassis (or Chassis): An entity of equipment whose prime        function is to mate, connect and/or interact with a toolPod. The        interaction may include the supply of various utilities to the        toolPod, the communication of various types of signals, the        provision of power sources. In some embodiments a Tool Chassis        may support, mate or interact with an intermediate piece of        equipment such as a pumping system which may then mate, support,        connect or interact with a toolPod. A prime function of a Tool        Chassis may be to support easy removal and replacement of        toolPods and/or intermediate equipment with toolPods.    -   toolPod (or tool Pod or Tool Pod or similar variants): A form of        a tool wherein the tool exists within a container that may be        easily handled. The toolPod may have both a Tool Body and also        an attached Tool Port and the Tool Port may be attached outside        the container or be contiguous to the tool container. The        container may contain a small clean space region for the tool        body and internal components of a tool Port. The toolPod may        contain the necessary infrastructure to mate, connect and        interact with a Tool Chassis. The toolPod may be easily        transported for reversible removal from interaction with a        primary clean space environment.    -   Tool Port: That portion of a tool forming a point of exit or        entry for jobs to be processed by the tool. Thus the port        provides an interface to any job-handling automation of the        tool.    -   Tubular: Having a shape that can be described as any closed        figure projected along its perpendicular and hollowed out to        some extent.    -   Unidirectional: Describing a flow which has a tendency to        proceed generally along a particular direction albeit not        exclusively in a straight path. In clean airflow, the        unidirectional characteristic is important to ensuring        particulate matter is moved out of the cleanspace.    -   Unobstructed removability: refers to geometric properties, of        fabs constructed in accordance with the present invention that        provide for a relatively unobstructed path by which a tool can        be removed or installed.    -   Utilities: A broad term covering the entities created or used to        support fabrication environments or their tooling, but not the        processing tooling or processing space itself. This includes        electricity, gasses, airflows, chemicals (and other bulk        materials) and environmental controls (e.g., temperature).    -   Vertical: A direction that is, or is close to being, parallel to        the direction of gravitational force.    -   Vertically Deployed Cleanspace: a cleanspace whose major        dimensions of span may fit into a plane or a bended plane whose        normal has a component in a horizontal direction. A Vertically        Deployed Cleanspace may have a cleanspace airflow with a major        component in a horizontal direction. A Ballroom Cleanroom would        typically not have the characteristics of a vertically deployed        cleanspace.

While the invention has been described in conjunction with specificembodiments, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications andvariations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of theforegoing description. Accordingly, this description is intended toembrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations as fallwithin its spirit and scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. An imaging apparatus comprising: a firstapparatus comprising a first substrate with a multitude of imagingelements arrayed thereupon wherein the imaging elements are capable ofemitting an imaging signal from their structure to a material sensitiveto their emissions on a surface in a vicinity of the first apparatus,wherein there are about 1,000 or more imaging elements upon the firstsubstrate.
 2. The imaging apparatus comprising the imaging apparatus ofclaim 1 and additionally comprising: a support component for a secondsubstrate to be processed by the imaging apparatus; an alignment featureand alignment apparatus to measure the alignment feature; and aprocessor operant to collect data from imaging apparatus components,process the data and control imaging apparatus components based on thedata.
 3. The imaging apparatus of claim 2 wherein the multitude ofimaging elements emit electrons.
 4. The imaging apparatus of claim 3wherein the multitude of imaging elements emit photons.
 5. The imagingapparatus of claim 3 wherein the multitude of imaging elements emitmolecules.
 6. The imaging apparatus of claim 3 wherein there are morethan 10,000 imaging elements upon the first substrate.
 7. The imagingapparatus of claim 6 wherein the first substrate is approximately roundwith a radius approximately one inch in dimension.
 8. A method offorming an imaging system comprising: forming an individual imagingsystem element; testing the individual imaging system element; selectingthe individual imaging system element based on compliance to desiredspecifications; forming a receiving substrate with electricalinterconnect features thereon; placing selected individual imagingsystem elements upon the receiving substrate; and processing the placedselected individual imaging elements to electrically connect them uponthe receiving substrate.
 9. The method of claim 8 additionallycomprising: testing the imaging system to form test structures;measuring the test structures; and calculating correction valuesutilizing result of the measuring.
 10. The method of claim 9 wherein theimaging system comprises more than 10,000 individual imaging elements.11. The method of claim 10 wherein the imaging system is approximatelyround in form with a radius of approximately 1 inch.
 12. The method ofclaim 9 additionally comprising the step of: including the imagingelements into a toolPod.
 13. The method of claim 12 additionallycomprising steps of: placing the toolPod upon a chassis, wherein thechassis is part of a cleanspace fabricator; placing a second substrateinto the cleanspace fabricator; placing an imaging sensitive film uponthe second substrate; and performing an imaging process upon the imagingsensitive film upon the second substrate.
 14. A method for forming animaging system comprising steps of: placing a second substrate within acleanspace fabricator; moving the second substrate within the cleanspacefabricator to a processing tool within a first toolPod; processing thesecond substrate to form imaging elements upon the substrate; and movingthe second substrate with imaging elements thereon out of thecleanspace.
 15. The method of claim 14 wherein the imaging elements emitelectrons.
 16. The method of claim 14 wherein the imaging elements emitphotons.
 17. The method of claim 14 wherein the imaging elements emitmolecules.
 18. The method of claim 14 wherein there are more than 10,000imaging elements upon a first substrate.
 19. The method of claim 18wherein the first substrate is approximately round with a radiusapproximately one inch in dimension.